I'm Happy That Derek Anderson Will Be Starting on Sunday

You know, I couldn’t be happier that Derek Anderson is starting on Sunday for the Browns when they take on Miami. It might sound strange but I’ll explain.

Heading into the season, there was one game that I had circled on the calendar and that was October 14th when Miami had to travel to Cleveland. It’s not that these two teams are big rivals or that I was expecting a great game but just because of the Brady Quinn factor.

I had this fear that Quinn would possibly be the starter for the Browns and that he would get his “revenge” on Miami for passing him in the draft. The media would have a field day with it and coach Cameron would get even more criticism for his draft day strategy that did not include Quinn.

You see, after Nick Saban bolted for Tuscaloosa, the one guy I wanted Miami to hire was Cam Cameron. He was a great coordinator at San Diego and I just had a feeling that this guy would be a great coach for our team. He knew how to run an offense and that was exactly the weak point of this team for years. The defense would be dominating but our offense would be mediocre at best.

So when coach Cameron got hired to be the new head man, I basically giggled like a 4-year old. Coach Cameron has come in since then and has slowly started to rebuild this team. He brought in a new philosophy, he got rid of players that were not performing up to standard and he also got rid of guys that didn’t show any characters.

I absolutely loved this. I have been very vocal about this and if you back through my archives over at Blown Coverage, you will also see that. I loved the fact that we had a coach that came in with a plan and philosophy and that was going to start all over and try to build us into a winner.

Over the past few years this team hasn’t gone anywhere. Nick Saban gave us hope after his first season and we were even a dark horse Super Bowl candidate going into his second year. But everything basically fell apart and it was time to just start completely over.

That said, going into the draft, everyone including myself thought that Miami needed Brady Quinn. It seemed logical at the time. Miami needed a quarterback and Quinn seemed to be ready to handle a pro-style offense. Quinn was still there when our pick came up and you know how that story played out after that.

And I admit, at the time of the Ginn pick I did not agree. I screamed, I booed, I was angry and I couldn’t believe that we passed up a “franchise quarterback”. But little did I know that coach Cameron and co. had their eyes on John Beck all along.

After reading their comments and their thought process I slowly came around. I watched film on Beck and Quinn and I started to agree with the pick. All things equal, I think that Beck will be a better pro than Quinn and I’m happy that we have him on board.

But still there are those that think that Quinn should have been the pick. The criticism became worse when we acquired Trent Green. People screamed that we gave up too early on Daunte Culpepper, that we passed up on Quinn and have now turned to a 37-year old coming off of an injury to lead the team.

It sounds bad if you think about it like that, but consider a few things. Culpepper showed absolutely nothing to make us believe that he could lead this team. And even though he’s now starting for Oakland, I still have my doubts. Green was acquired but we all know that he’s here to hold down the fort and to help Beck along.

Green wanted to be here, he knew the offense better than anyone we had on the roster so it’s logical that he would come in and be the starter until Beck is ready. This is a team that is rebuilding. We’re not contending for the play-offs. Everyone knows that yet they still think it’s weird that Green was brought in.

Either way, my fear was that Quinn would be starting by now and that if he played well against Miami, that it would add to the criticism that coach Cameron is receiving right now. This team needs time to improve and to buy into the strategy of the coaching staff. That people are already calling for Cameron to be fired is beyond me.

Give the man some time. Let him do what he has planned to do. If 4 years from now we’re still 0-5, then I can understand the criticism but not now. That’s why I’m happy that Derek Anderson will be starting on Sunday because we don’t need anymore unnecessary criticism around here.

* (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)